Genesis 1:27, one of the most important verses in the Bible, says that human beings are created in the image of God. All human beings. Everyone. Human history ever since has been largely about coming into an understanding of the profound meaning of this verse.
This vision gets fulfilled by Jesus Christ who takes on flesh as Truly Human One, leading the Apostle Paul to say in Galatians: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." Christ comes to cut through and abolish the turning of different categories of humans into "others" to be separated, regulated, judged, subjugated, rejected, excluded, or even annihilated. He resolves our disunity and division, revealing them to be false and invented. In Jesus Christ, the Truly Human One who is also "of one essence with the Father," we see revealed the Image of God for and in all. We are all one in him; there are no "others."
Any nation, therefore, that expresses and reflects this unity of all could legitimately look to Jesus Christ and the Bible as the source of its values and practices.
Some Americans will claim that America is a Christian nation. Were this true it would be evident in our witnessing to this oneness of all in God's Image which dissolves oppositional differences. Indeed, we do make this claim about ourselves, articulated in the Pledge of Allegiance, about being a place of "liberty and justice for all." From one perspective, our history as a nation has always been oriented towards the realization of this "all." This aspirational confession implicitly affirming Genesis 1:27 and Galatians 3:28 is the most Christian thing about us.
Sadly, our history shows us repeatedly falling short, beginning with a flawed and incomplete implementation of this vision. Full rights were originally granted only to white, male, property owners. America was founded on land violently stolen from Indigenous people, and largely built by the forced labor of African slaves. Our history is full of horrible and tragic examples of people being excluded, rejected, oppressed, exploited, denied, and killed. For in contradiction to our aspirational vision, we have always been stifled by the narrow, violent, constricted, sclerotic, suffocating, evil fog of white nationalism. It is hard to argue with those who conclude that the true and only America is this unredeemable settler/slave republic and its caste regime with white people at the top.
Can we still affirm, in spite of all the speedbumps, detours, roadblocks, and ambushes that get thrown up in our path, that America's true and holy journey has always been towards the equality, acceptance, inclusion, and empowerment of everyone? Can we hold onto the hope that this vision that we are all one, and not any separation from or superiority over supposed others, is our true Christian heritage? Can we keep alive the higher trajectory of America as always about the expansion of rights to more and more people so we may eventually attain the "all" of our aspiration?
For this is not just an American hope; it is the true telos of humanity and creation itself; it is the Creator's will for all people and nations. We just happened to articulate it and make it explicit at least verbally, even if it has been too often a self-serving, complacent lie. Even if it is not what the Founder meant at the time.
If we are to realize this "all" it will necessarily mean listening to, learning from, and centering the lives and stories of those who have been systematically denied full participation in America: beginning with Indigenous peoples, the descendants of enslaved Africans, and women. This project is inherently Christian and biblical. For the Bible begins with slaves and comes to its fulfillment with a poor man crucified for sedition and blasphemy. Scripture is incomprehensible and invariably misinterpreted unless we gain the perspective of the anawim, that is, the poor, dispossessed, marginalized, afflicted, foreigners, and lost. When we identify and express solidarity with them, we are one with Jesus Christ, and therefore one with the Creator of all.
This means in terms of practical politics and issues that any nation calling itself Christian must demonstrate its trust in the Lord Jesus by acting in certain ways that make Genesis 1:27 and Galatians 3:28 real. It would:
1. value, encourage, and promote the participation of marginalized communities in political life, including voting.
2. intentionally include and lift up the stories of marginalized communities, learning and learning from them.
3. seek always to expand rights and widen inclusion, respecting the self-determination of all.
4. oversee the emergence of an economy based on equality and justice, encouraging and rewarding good work while ensuring that all have access to decent housing, nutritious food, clean water, good education, adequate health care, and love.
5. respect the integrity of the land, air, water, and other living creatures, restoring and keeping the ecological balance necessary for the thriving of all.
6. foster restorative justice that heals and sustains communities.
7. teach and share the truth in love and justice, based on actual evidence.
8. encourage a lifestyle of simplicity, sharing, gentleness, unity, and joy.
To live this way would look like the love that casts out all fear, of which the Apostle John speaks. It would reflect and anticipate the oneness we all share in Jesus Christ. And it would preserve communities --- from the planetary to the household --- for thriving.
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